10.01.2012

Freespirit will be showcasing 12 different tutorials on their blog over the next 12 weeks for simple Christmas gifts you can use for holiday party favors, hostess gifts, and other little presents for friends and family. They will post a new tutorial every Monday from Oct 1st through December 17th.

Make sure to visit each blogger on the day of their tutorial for a giveaway!

Today, Freespirit is offering one of you the chance to win a Chicopee design roll (jelly roll)!

To enter, simply comment on this post. Let's talk about gifts! What's the best gift you've ever given? Do you have a go-to small handmade gift that you give away to all your friends? When leaving a comment, please make sure that I have a way to contact you if you win! Followers get an extra entry by leaving a second comment! I'll choose a winner on Friday.

This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Suzan, who won the Chicopee design roll! Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!

I would have to say it's a tie for best gifts I've ever given. I surprised my hubby with a telescope for his birthday one year which he loves and really wasn't expecting. The other would have to be a collage of pictures for my mom of her cat which had passed away that year.

Awesome trays - thanks for sharingI gave my husband a Mont Blanc pen for his 30th birthday, he was delighted and is still using it 8 years later! My go to gift at the moment is a zip pouch, quick and fun to make!thanks for the giveaway

Although I can't make everyone a quilt for Christmas... I do make quilted table runners for the ladies which are always treasured!! Thanks for the chance! I love the nesting trays - thanks for sharing in this blog hop... I'm looking for new ideas too!

Those fabrics look beautiful and fun. My best gifts were always something handmade. One year I hemmed Christmas fabric and tied up the 4 corners like on a hobo stick and then filled it with unshelled pecans for my parents for Christmas one year (I live in the south and pecans are a staple). It was fun for all.

My husband is the hardest to buy for, and I think I finally got it right last year. I put together a photo book with pictures of him with our kids, and a wooden keepsake box with a picture of him and his dad, who passed away last year. Thank you, Shutterfly!

That Chicopee fabric would be for the gifts my kids love - pillowcases, quilts, loveys, pajamas, dresses. It's nice to have an appreciative audience for crafty stuff! I'm Emily at siren-song.com .

The best gifts I've ever given are handmade or baked by me... My Mom and MIL along with some aunts and cousins always appreciate those gifts and I love to see they use or display what I gave them :)Thanks for the Giveaway!

I'm in the process of making a queen-sized quilt for a friend of mine - I think that's going to be the largest gift I've ever given. I also gave a pair of handknit socks to another dear friend who wore them in her (outdoor and very chilly autumn) wedding.

Firstly, I LOVE your blog. :DNow, let's talk gifts...Best gift I've ever given would be...hmmm...I'd say when I surprised my husband with a brand new computer. We were still dating at the time, and he was trying to finish his PhD on a craptastic ancient Mac that kept losing pages of his work. He was so surprised and grateful - he'd never had a new computer, only ever hand-me-downs so this was a super big deal, and helped him to finish his dissertation in no time!Erinmummyquilts@gmail.commummyquilts.blogspot.com

Whew! I was thinking it's time to start getting my Christmas list together. Not sure how it's Oct. 1! I gave my son an awesome batman quilt last Christmas. That was a hit. I think I'm going to make up some Jane Market Totes this year.

This might sound hokey but setting aside uninterrupted time is the gift I give to my friends ( along with a small handmade something) . It's so hard to find time to talk and drink a glass of wine together most of the year!!

I just gave a pretty awesome gift. My brother turns 30 this week and I got one little gift for every year. Some are little, but others are kind of big. They all have little reasons, like a spiderman video with the note saying "you are a superhero". Of course, gift number 30 is a quilt!

I haven't received many gifts as an adult, so thinking back a bunch of years, I distinctly remember how excited I was to receive a Baby Christy for Christmas one year. I was probably about 7 years old. I was elated beyond words.

My best gifts are quilts, but I only make those, when I know people will really appreciate the gift. Otherwise I love to give little zippered pouches because everyone has a use for them and they are done real quick. Thanks!

That bundle would be very comfy in my sewing room! Love it! Hmmmmm...still thinking on the best gift given! Each one at the moment given seems to be the best! How could I ever pick just one? The best gift I am receiving right now is the glorious color we are experiencing here in the U.P. before the next color which is white!

My go-to handmade gift is table runners. I just mailed out 5 fall themed runners the other day. When I need a bigger gift it's fun to make a big set of runners for all seasons. I usually make them reversible -- say Halloween on one side, Thanksgiving on the other.

The best gift I was ever given was when my fiancee, now husband, surprised me and showed up on Christmas eve even when I thought his flight was canceled because of a snow storm :). My go-to gift right now that involves sewing is cosmetic bags made of patchwork, so many possibilities to customize to friend's personality and color taste and quick to throw together! anetjoy@yahoo.com

Last CHristmas, I knitted a bunch of scarves and put them all in a basket. The basket was then passed around at a family gathering and everyone got to choose one that they liked. I might do the same thing this year with key fobs and wallets/pouches :-) Thanks for the great chance to win and the wonderful tutorial!!

First ~ I love these fabrics and have been hoping to get some myself soon. Great project. Thanks for the great tutorial

And then, the best gift I've given was not anything I made. It was for my husband on our first Christmas just before we got married. I got the most beautiful Black Hills Gold men's ring for him but had the jeweler add diamonds into some of the lower areas in between the leaves in the ring. It turned out awesome and he loved it.

Best gift ever given was a microwave for my Mom way back when they were big and bulky but wonderfuly helpful for a working woman with kids to feed. She loved it and I was so happy to give her something she wanted and could use. Thanks for the tutorial and for the chance to win your giveaway.

I went a little nuts on a gift I made for my best friend's new baby girl. I made close to a dozen items and bought a bunch of clothes. I just love making baby gifts and working with cute little animal prints.

I make baskets those are usually my go to gift for someone. But it's funny last year for Christmas I made a dozen of those no sew fleece blankets for my nieces and nephews. Really it was to justify buying it during Black Friday. The kids love them. They range in age from 1-19 and they all still sleep with them. Probably the best presents I've ever given. :)

Oh, I have given my people many homemade things like quilts and pillows; but the gift that has gotten the best response is the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. People beg for them! I'm okay with that. LOL!

The best gift I've ever given was a handmade scrapbook of my dad's annual trout fishing trips in the Eastern High Sierras to him for one of his birthdays. He absolutely loved it and keeps it on his nightstand.

The best gifts I have ever received have always been handmade ones. I love the travel sewing kit in the Zakka book with the little matching pincushion and have made quite a few to give away to friends and family, usually with a reel of cotton, some needles and a few bits and pieces. I have found the people that love receiving these the most, are those that don't sew much at all, because they found it so handy to pull out just to fix up the odd button that falls off :)

This seems so small but really made lots of my women relatives and friends happy, the little sewn tissue holders. I gave them last year around the holidays and they all loved them! I had made about 30 different omes and they got to choose what they wanted.

Lovely project & great tutorial, thanks for sharing. The best received gift that I have given was a quilt that I made as a welcome home gift to my daughter & her partner when they moved back to Australia after living in the UK for 2 years (he's English). Thanks for the chance to win.

Every year I make something different to use for gifts. I have made quilted purse organizers, table runners and earrings. Last year it was crocheted ripple scarves and this year it is key chains made from wine corks with strings of beads. Thankfully my family enjoys handmade gifts!

Several Christmases ago, I gave my parents a log cabin quilt for their bed. I worked for 4 months to complete it and it was absolutely worth every moment just to see the joy they continue to get from sleeping under a blanket of love. Be especially blessed, Kathy

I made a beanbag chair for my daughter to go in her bedroom after we redid it (went from little girl to pre-teen room). She has always wanted one and was very surprised! Thanks for the great gift inspiration!ellen(at)myerly(dot)net

Thank you SO much for this chance!! I have been drooling over this fabric line since I saw it!! The best gift I've ever given is a quilt my sister and I made together for our mom. It was beautiful! I love giving anything handmade. Those are the best gifts!

Nice boxes, and I love Center City! My go-to gift is Elizabeth Hartman Perfect Zip Bags. I can whip one up in about fifteen minutes and there are so many ways to customize them, from colors to embellishments (I like embroidering initials on the inside). Perfect!

We just gave my MIL a t-shirt quilt. It was made from 25 years of memorial softball tourney tees, and it came out really cool. But I also like to make small gifts, like hand knit washcloths and quilted notebooks.

Welcome to Bijou Lovely. This blog is named after my great grandmother, Bijou Lillian, who encouraged me to embrace all the lovely things that the world has to offer. I hope to provide you with inspiration for sewing, quilting, photography, design, and daily life here at Bijou Lovely! It's truly lovely to have you here.